Sunday, November 10, 2013

Twenty-nine lives were lost 38 years ago today. I don't know why I am so fascinated by the tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but I am. And nothing better to serve as tribute than the ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.

3 comments:

the Fitz was a poorly maintained boat that had been modified to hold way more taconite than it was meant to. People who served on it knew it made funny noises and had abnormal levels of flex in the hull that could be felt in waves and whenever thy tried to get it to turn. it's too bad the shipping company was able to blame the catastrophic hull failure on the captain crew and weather, thus avoiding the sort of payout that the families of the crew deserved.

$$$ Design features caused over 15 inches of water to be retained on the entire deck at all times during the storm conditions encountered. This had the same effect as lowering the Edmund Fitzgerald's freeboard another 15 inches. (page 16 linked pdf)

$$$ The design of the cargo hold permitted complete flooding due to lack of watertight compartmentalization. (page 17 linked pdf)

$$$ Design features of the cargo hold prevented pumping water from the hold when carrying taconite. (page 17 linked pdf)